“THE LOST ZEPPELIN”

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 1009, 27 June 1930, Page 17

“THE LOST ZEPPELIN”

SPECTACULAR DRAMA j THRILLS AT THE CIVIC ; The intense popular interest in 4 aerial polar exploration has been i capitalised in an excelelnt manner J in the film shown at the Civic : Theatre last evening. “The Lost ! Zeppelin" has a strong plot, drama- ; 4 tised from real life incidents. 4 powerful situations and more than 4 a generous measure of excitement. I It is rare entertainment. . In this production the film produ- 1 cei's have ingeniously blended elements ! from two recent incidents. General i -Nobile’s ill-fated Arctic trip in the j dirigible “Italia." which crashed in ; the ice, provides the basis of the plot; ! ■ the setting of America and the Antarctic obviously comes from Admiral ! Byrd’s South polar voyage of last year. With clever handling and realistic j settings, the story has become a par- I ticularly brilliant piece of film enter- 3 tain men t. The central character is Commander Donald Hall, in charge of a United States Navy exploration party which endeavours to reach the South Pole by dirigible. With him as second in command is Lieutenant Armstrong, a. life-long friend. The night before the dirigible left Washington, at a big reception given in his honour, Hall finds his wife in the arms of Armstrong. Almost from the start the big dirigible runs into bad weather. Terrifying tropical storms turned later into even more terrible Antarctic storms, with lightning, hail, sleet and snow impeding their progress. But tho dirigible does reach the Pole. Of all this the public in the United States is kept fully informed by wireless. On the return journey the huge airship runs into the worst storm yet. Blirvlcd by the driving snow, deafened by tho howling gale, the navigators lose all sense of direction. Gradually the great weight of snow and ice on the envelope forces the ship lower and lower, until it strikes an ice mountain and is wrecked. Until the last moment the wireless operator keeps the home stations informed of their terrible plight. There is a base camp in Antarctica and from there planes are sent out to search the many thousands of drearv miles for survivors. One by one the ! gallant explorers are killed off by cold I and starvation until but two remain j —the two men who love the same j woman. ; At long last there arrives a relief! airplane. But it can take but one j passenger, and Hall, as commander, 1 orders the other to return. That is not the end of the story by . any means, nor is it the onlv big dramatic moment in this film, which j is packed full of thrills from beginning ; to end. During the flight of the ! dirigible the suspense among the ] people who remain at home has been ! faithfully depicted. As Commander Hall, Conway Tear! ■ ■ gives a memorable portrayal—always j restrained yet always firm. The i vacillating wife is graphically inter- • preted by Virginia Valli, and Lieutenant Armstrong admirably played by Ricardo Cortez. The voices of all the players are excellent. For the remainder of the pro- i gramme the Civic lives up to its already high reputation. Ted Henkel’.- j Civic Concert Orchestra plays seloc- 1 tions from “Rio Rita,” and Fred Scholl | again delights at the organ. He) plays a selection of church music j I under the heading of “Hymns of the j Old Church Choir." A most interest- ! ing Paramount Sound News, an Os- i \ wald the Rabbit cartoon, and an am us- j ; ing comedy. “Love Honour and. Oh j i Baby," completed the programme.